410 ANIMAL REPRODYCTIONS, 
What I now obferve of the offeous parts obvi- 
oufly applies to thofe that are foft. How, for 
example, could extenfion of the flefhy fibres of a 
newt’s tail produce that infinity of glands that 
cover it; and fecrete the vifcous fluid by which 
it is hianenais How could extenfion of the 
flefhy fibres, at the root of a {nail’s horn, produce 
a new horn, and place an eye at its extremity, 
provided with an uvea and three humours (1)? 
I fhall omit the effential force, which a very 
modern Epigenefift has gratuitoufly afcribed to 
matter. It would be equivalent to admitting the 
plaftic nature and creative mind of Redi and 
Hartfoecker. Befides, the fame objections may 
be made to it as to the expanfive power. ‘hele 
are expreflions which enrich dictionaries, but add 
nothing to phyfiology. Here I muft refer to 
Part 11 of /a Palingene/ie. 
Nothing need be faid on organic molecules, as 
an excellent obferver has rigoroufly demonftrated 
their non-exiftence, by a beautiful feries of ex- 
periments 
(«) It is to Swammerdam’s amazing dextetity in dif- 
fection that we owe our knowledge of the ftructure of the 
eye of the fnail. Vide his excellgnt hiftory of the animal 
in his Biblia Nature, of which there is a French tranfla= 
tion, Collection Academique, ‘Tom. 5. 
Se 
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